


Lacuna

by MoodyItalian



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Maybe - Freeform, Original Character(s), Repressed Memories, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Tags May Change, Work In Progress, kinda fluffy moments, mostly some angst, possibly gruesome stuff, psychologist oc - Freeform, there might be smut later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2020-05-19 10:48:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19355503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoodyItalian/pseuds/MoodyItalian
Summary: Lacuna - Noun – A missing space, a blank part.Evelyn Foster was a criminal psychologist working with Detroit PD, saw how humans were treating their androids, and didn't like it. So, while making her distaste heard, word got around to a certain creator with a vision. To create an android who could fit in with the humans.When Evelyn is shot down in the field, everyone is horrified to find an android arriving within the month bearing a striking resemblance to their old, very much dead, colleague.She identifies herself as a 'EV-500' unit, and assures them while Evelyn is gone, she remains in her memory equipped to carry out her previous job. This odd mix of android implanted with human memories is no small cause of concern and confusion to both Connor and Hank, one who sees her as too risky in case she goes deviant, and another who is just pissed off that Cyberlife would do something so on-the-nose.





	1. The Link

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there! Thanks for giving this a read! This is my first actual fanfiction in a long time!  
> Special thanks to Vinny for listening to my never-ending brainstorming for Evelyn.

Chapter 1 – The Link

Amber eyes glanced out the window for the briefest of moments, watching the snow falling gently to the ground, adding to the already thick blanketing around the…apartment? House? Those same eyes turned back down as an android walked over with a pre-rehearsed smile and a cup of coffee while the man on the other side of the table eyed the woman with an oddly satisfied stare.

“It must have been cold out there. I’m honestly surprised you made the trip so soon, Detective Foster.” The man spoke up, sipping at his own coffee cup. Foster met his stare with one of her own, eyes seeming to hold a melancholy that couldn’t quite be placed. 

“It’s getting worse. We’re like bored children. I can’t stand to look at half the people I work with anymore.” Foster said, resentment eating into her voice quickly and she tried to focus on the warmth in her palms from the coffee cup.

_Your getting angry and that wont help anyone. Not you, and certainly not the androids._

“It’s one thing to disagree with how people are treating their androids, and another to go as far as you have, detective.” He sounded almost jovial, teasing to a certain degree, then added “tell me, why go through with this plan? As far as people are concerned they are just masses of metal. Why help them?”

Her answer was swift and sure, and a little irritated.

“We’re human. We accidentally kick a Roomba and apologise. We swear at our computers if they don’t work quickly enough. We used to call our cars our ‘babies’. Its only a logical step that the same mentality would be magnified with an android – a computer that looks and plays a very convincing human.”

Detective Foster took a deep breath before continuing, brushing aside a strand of blonde hair that fell in her face.

“Look at the end of the day, you need someone like me, and I benefit knowing I’ve done my part. Maybe by doing this you’ll be able to…I dunno, blur the line between human and android enough to stop this conflict.”  
The man nodded through his smile, and Foster felt suddenly uneasy when he pushed a stack of papers towards her across the glass table. “Take your time, detective, I want you to be absolutely sure of all of this before you agree.” He noted, and the blonde woman mirrored his gesture. For two hours she read the papers, poring over every little detail in the agreement, offering adjustments where she saw fit. And her soon-to-be associate was more than willing to help.

Night fell quickly after she had signed the contract, a weight sinking in her stomach – hesitation.

_I just want to help. I just…it’s wrong._

“Alright, now that the messy paperwork is out of the way we can talk details. This is purely up to you, but would you prefer to look exactly the same?”

“...Yes. Yes, I want to look the same. Talk the same. Unless someone really knew me, I want them to not be able to tell.”

“That requires a certain level of self-will, it’ll be difficult to program without the model going deviant.”

“You wanted a psych-bot. I’m telling you now no one at the precinct is going to use it if they think they’re talking to an android. She needs to be convincing.”

“…I suppose that’s why we’re testing her. We’ll hide her LED as best as we can, maybe switch the side your hair parts. She’ll be…an interesting project. Any questions?”

Foster paused for a moment, eyes boring into him.

“Will it hurt? The memory scans?”

“No. It’s like having a brain scan. Totally painless. We’ll have to take out some memories, in order to have accurate processing power though.”

She moved to speak, and he held a hand up. “Small memories. Past lovers, the times you got drunk in college. Christmas when you were five. Small things.”  
A small part of her rejected the idea immediately but knew it would be inevitable. 

“And how many times am I going to have to sneak away from my work to do this?”

The man let out a small chuckle “As many times as it’s needed to perfect the program.”

…

A year was all they had, it would soon be revealed. 

It had been a stupid mistake, she had been called to a hostage situation – she made the wrong move, and the bullet had torn through her chest. She bled out on the floor, colleagues trying to stem the flow as she grew cold and limp behind a patrol vehicle. The department had mourned her loss for a month when a splitting image had walked in, wearing Cyberlife-designed uniform. A neat, business dress, in dark blues and grey with the trademark blue accent. 

The android had walked right into her boss’ office and seemed to not notice the looks of horror on everyone’s face as she did so.

“What the absolute fuck is this?!”

A head tilt, and had they seen the LED hidden by her blonde hair they would have noticed the amber hue.

“I am an EV-500, though I am usually called an ‘Evelyn’ unit. I was sent by Cyberlife as a replacement for one Evelyn Foster, who, according to my details, was killed in the line of duty a month ago. I am equipped with appropriate human programming in order to properly serve my purpose as a psychologist.”

“…that’s fucked up.”

Evelyn tilt her head slightly. “I am aware that there may be some lingering feelings of loss and mourning on account of detective Foster’s passing. I shall wait in my office until I have been given orders.”

Evelyn turned on her heels and walked out, closing the door behind her with a small thud.

She continued to pay no attention to what was quickly becoming a mixture of resentment and horror as she passed by into her office.


	2. Ferly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ferly - Noun - Something unusual, strange, or causing wonder or terror
> 
> In this, Evelyn meets Connor and Hank, and finds that humans are oddly hostile or dismissive of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thank you for reading, I'd love to get feedback!

Chapter 2 – Ferly

_Ferly - Noun - Something unusual, strange, or causing wonder or terror._

Evelyn couldn’t quite understand why she had been in her office so long. There was no familiarity there, no need for her to get used to her surroundings, none of her past selves’ work had been moved as they hadn’t hired another psychologist yet. She trailed a hand across the surface of the desk and it came away clean.

Someone had been coming in to dust.

The blonde android sat at her desk and flicked through the files on her desktop. Nothing new. She had been assigned no new tasks, but by the way the people around the office were running back and forth from where she observed through the glass door, there was obviously much work to be done. No one had briefed her yet. It could wait, perhaps she was not needed at that particular time. 

Evelyn’s amber eyes watched as people walked past, on more than one occasion she saw an officer pull another over to gawk at her sitting almost motionless in her office chair.

The disgust was clear on their faces and she grew ever more confused. 

After the fourth hour past she decided it would be best to leave the room, wander around and assure everyone around her that she was still available to help. Getting up from her chair she shut down the monitor and walked steadily over to the door. Two officers were watching as she exited, and she smiled at them. 

“Good afternoon. You’ll let me know if I can help at all, yes?” she said gently, her voice modifying in pitch in a way she deemed appropriately friendly. The officers didn’t respond, and she turned away, looking out at the mess of desks and officers. No one met her eyes. 

Her feet found their way to the break room and she turned to observe the TV screen. There were more deviants recently. People were getting hurt. Her brows furrowed as she heard someone scoffing behind her.

“Well would you look at that. Seems we have fucking ghost androids now.”

She turned around and analysed the face. Gavin Reed. From her own fuzzy memories her past self didn’t like him all that much either. 

“Officer Reed. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She said, smiling and Reed took a couple of steps towards her. “What? Cyberlife not give you all your memories back, tin-girl?”

“One moment, I will research…”

Flicking through her memories caused her LED to turn amber again as she filed through her human counterparts’ memories more thoroughly. Once she was done she looked back up at Reed. “Ah yes. My apologies. It would seem my human counterpart displayed severe traits of dislike, one could even say hatred for you, officer.”

He took another step towards her.

“Figures that the android lover ended up getting turned into one herself” he sniggered, though Evelyn could see the anger in his eyes. “From my records, detective Foster was in no intimate relationships with androids, officer Reed. She merely was of the opinion that they deserved to be treated better than they were.” She noted, an eyebrow raised.

“I don’t know what’s worse, you or the other new tin-can that’s attached itself to Anderson.” Reed spat out. His eyes turned to the side to look at something and Evelyn followed suit. She saw Lieutenant Anderson’s desk empty with an android that was not in her registry of common place designated ones by Cyberlife.

“I was unaware there was a new android here.” She noted, a tinge of surprise in her voice. She felt a push in her back and found it was Reed giving her a shove. “Get outta here!”

“I was merely-“

“I said fuck off!”

Evelyn processed this for a while, brows furrowed before making her way over to the desk. She paused halfway, deciding it would be better to introduce herself to Anderson with something useful – her records showed he had a bit of a temper, and a hatred for androids. She detoured around and back to her office, grabbing paperwork that already should have been handed over before her predecessors’ death. Her heels clicked steadily on the tiles floor as she made her way over and looking around.  
“Excuse me, have you seen lieutenant Anderson? I have paperwork for him.” She noted and watched as the android turned to look at her. She could tell he was scanning her and blinked a couple of times.

“You do not seem to appear in my registry. What make are you?”

She placed the tablet she held down and gestured to the make and model written on the chest of her dress. “I am an EV-500. An Evelyn unit.”

“You are a prototype.”

She nodded once. “Yes. I was designed by Cyberlife as a way of integrating human memories in an android. My designated job is a psychologist.”

“I see. It would make sense for the humans to require a more ‘personal’ feeling when talking to you. My name is Connor. I am a RK-800, I was sent here to help with the investigation on deviants.”

“Ah. You’re also a prototype then.” Evelyn noted. “It’s nice to meet you, but I really should get back to work.”

Connor scanned around again. “It would appear you don’t have any to do.” He noted, and Evelyn looked at the tablet “No. No people here are…still getting used to having me around it would seem. But it’s only my first day here so I would not expect too much…Excuse me, I should probably…go back to my station. In case someone needs me.”

Connor was confused when he noted a tinge of sadness in her voice as she walked away, wondering just how ‘human’ they had made this new prototype.

Evelyn wandered the precinct, doing odd jobs here and there that were quickly becoming more akin to a secretary than a psychologist, and she was sure her human counterpart would have been furious at this – luckily her ability to feel that had been taken out. 

She stood around a corner, attention on scanning the room to see if there was anything – even something small – that she could do, when she felt a stumble against her back. She jolted forwards a couple of steps.

“God damn son of a bitch! Who put this fucking android here!” a tired, angry voice boomed as she turned around. Her optics recognised Hank Anderson and she smiled, as she had with everyone that morning.

“Good…” she internally checked her clock “…evening, lieutenant Anderson.”

Hank looked at the android in front of him with, as she had come to expect, an aspect of shock and horror. “Jesus Christ.”

“I am an EV-500, also known as an Evelyn unit. I was sent here as human Evelyn’s replacement.” She noted, using the exact same dialect and speech pattern she had with everyone else that day. It went about as well as expected and she repressed a sigh.   
“Are you fucking telling me that those bastards made a robot version of Evelyn?!”

“For all intents and purposes, I am Evelyn, lieutenant, I have all her memories as of her last upload in our systems, which was a week before her death. I understand this is sudden and can be confrontational, but I am still able to continue my job as before.”  
Hank snorted and began walking to his desk, Evelyn following. “I really don’t think anyone’s going to trust a robot psychologist.”

Evelyn tilt her head as he reached his desk, holding his hand up to stop whatever Connor was going to say.

“Lieutenant, I was created specifically for the purpose of providing psychological aid to those who need it. I do not have the same emotional limitations that other androids have.”

This time both Connor and Hank turned to look at her.

“You can feel.”

“I can accurately emulate feelings that the human Evelyn would have felt. She went through a very long list of tests to see if she was suitable for this endeavour, so I can assure you she is not sociopathic or violent. And even if she was, I am unable to emulate most negative emotions. If so, then there are safeguards in place should that happen. But the probability of that is well below five percent.” Evelyn explained, and Hanks face seemed to be struggling to make sense of it all.  
Connor however looked quite concerned hearing this news, his LED spinning yellow steadily as she talked. The situation was being deemed as rather awkward, so she bowed her head. “I apologise, lieutenant, I’ll let you get back to work. There are files on your desk from past cases that should have been given to you, feel free to do them at your leisure.”

She turned on her heel and walked away, returning to her office and sitting back down, staring at the past case files she had worked on. Her own LED spinning yellow trying to make sense of what was going on with the humans around her and why she was not being utilised as she was intended. 

…

“You alright there?” Hank snapped, and Connor’s LED returned to blue in an instant. 

“Yes. Yes, I am fine lieutenant. I was not aware that Cyberlife had made another prototype, and certainly not one with such liberties.” Connor explained to the older man sitting across from him. “I do feel that I need to caution you though, that having an android with the capability to emulate emotions could go wrong very quickly.”

“You think she’s going to go deviant?” Hank asked, turning to look at the glass door to Evelyn’s office.

“Deviant’s do not feel emotions, lieutenant, they merely think they do. If that logic is correct, then this Evelyn unit is already deviant.”

“Yeah but she hasn’t stabbed anyone or gone against any orders given to her.”

Connor followed his view and squinted slightly. “No. No she hasn’t. I still think we should watch her though. She could at the very least prove beneficial to our investigation.”

Hank rubbed his forehead. “No fuckin’ way. I have a hard-enough time dealing with you, let alone another one.”


	3. Chapter 3 - Nepenthe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nepenthe – Noun – Something that can make you forget all suffering or grief.
> 
> In this chapter, there's a lot of android mind probing. And Evelyn acts out of the norm even for her.  
> Also Connor doesn't understand social cues.  
> Also Reed is a god damn asshole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for reading, if you've stuck around! Feel free to drop a comment below!

Chapter 3 – Nepenthe

_Nepenthe – Noun – Something that can make you forget all suffering or grief._

The new tasks that Evelyn had been given – secretary duties – as she had come to calling them, were beginning to grate on her. At it’s core it fundamentally went against her coding to be doing these jobs but…what other options did she have?

If she sat in her office much longer she was worried she might be considered part of the furniture.

It was while doing another coffee run that she passed by Hank’s desk, observing them with curiosity. Connors eyes flicked to her as she passed, and she offered a friendly smile.

“Evelyn, if your doing a coffee run…?” Hank started, and a sad looked passed behind her eyes.

_Not you too Hank…_

She shook it away and nodded, “Lemme put these down and I’ll grab something.”

It hurt a little, and she basically could shut down most memory function at this point as she fetched the coffee from the break room. Occasionally there were still sniggers or snide comments from the other people in the precinct, but the matter was out of her hands. Meanwhile Connor watched with a slightly furrowed brow as Evelyn essentially ‘spaced out’ at the coffee maker.

He noticed the small hunch of her shoulders when officer Reed made some kind of comment, a momentary flash of what could have been irritation and her LED going red when she pushed her hair back absently.

“Your really hung up on this new android, Connor.” Hank said eventually, and he turned back to his partner. “Make no mistake lieutenant, I’m watching for signs of deviancy.”

Hank shrugged. “If she was going to try to kill us she would have poisoned the coffee by now. Yeah, it’s weird, but she’s just a fancy android.”

“She’s a fancy android who can feel, lieutenant. Furthermore she’s, as you call a ‘fancy android’ who can feel and is obviously unhappy that she is being allocated no jobs as of yet.” Connor explained quietly, and Hank watched as his LED turned yellow again.

That was happening more and more often when it came to Evelyn, it seemed. Said android came back, smile on her face once again as she put the cup down on Hank’s desk.

“There you go lieutenant. Apologies for the wait, I uh…ran into officer Reed.”

Hank sniggered slightly and turned to look at Connor again “See? If she was deviant she wouldn’t have let Reed go, androids hate that kind of shit.”

Evelyn’s brows furrowed as she looked between the two.

“Your concerned that I’m deviant? I can assure you…I am not.” She said softly, a tinge of sadness in her voice again. “In fact, I was thinking I could help with the deviants.” She offered.

Hank raised a brow at her cynically, but Connor nodded. “I was thinking the same thing.”

“You literally just said you think she’s a deviant!”

“She might be. But the best way of telling is to monitor her. Observe her when she interacts with them. And if she isn’t then…” Connor trailed off for a moment and Evelyn nodded.

“If I cannot use my skills to help the humans…I may be able to gain the trust and talk to the deviants.”

Hank held a hand up suddenly. “Look, that’s all well and good and shit, but I have enough trouble dealing with Connor.” He paused when he saw the hope drain from Evelyn’s expression. “Don’t look at me like that! I…fine! Fine!” he pointed a finger at Connor “but you’re the one looking after her! I want no damn part in this!”

“That will be fine lieutenant, I would have to be the one monitoring her anyway.”

…

And so began Evelyn’s unofficial beginning on the deviant case.

She scanned through the files, seeming to zone out as she did so. “There aren’t really any notes here I can use…” she said under her breath.

It was one thing to know an android stabbed their human or wrote on walls…but she needed more than that. Mannerisms, how long the behaviour had been going on.

“Connor” she said, turning to look at the android “are these all the notes?”

“Yes, why? Have you found something?”

“The opposite actually. These notes weren’t written in any way to help a psychologist profile the deviants. Really all we can go off are our own assumptions.”

Connor and Hank looked at each other, and Hank groaned as he put his jacket on. “No. She isn’t coming with us.”

“But lieutenant. Evelyn’s job would be better suited on the field.” Connor explained.

“I said no, Connor.”

When Connor turned back to Evelyn, he noted the distaste crossing her features.

“It’s fine. I’ll just have to go from the notes you make out there.” She said, standing up from her chair with a small sigh and turning on her heel to go back to her office. Evelyn was notified two and a half hours later that a deviant had been brought into the station by the pair and made her way towards the interview room, where she was stopped by Reed.

“And what the fuck do you think you’re doing, spare parts?”

“I have been allowed to work on the deviant case with Connor and lieutenant Anderson. I would appreciate it if you moved.” She explained, moving to squeeze beside him through the door when his shoulder jammed into her. She felt no pain from the action, but something pulled at the side of her mind, Connor watched from inside the room as her eyebrows furrowed and hands clenched.

“Is something the matter, officer Reed?” he called out, standing up. “I requested the assistance of this Evelyn unit, and it would be beneficial to let her do her job.” Reed looked between the two.

“Geeze, gotta protect your kind, don’t ya?” he huffed, leaning forwards to pinch Evelyn’s cheek.

“Don’t touch me.”

Silence fell between the three of them, before Reed moved his face closer, trying to intimidate her it would seem.

“What the fuck did you say to me?”

“I said, don’t touch me. Now let go.” Evelyn breathed, and internally her software began running a million miles a minute, trying to fix the issue.

Connor watched for a moment or two before grabbing her arm and pulling her into the room, nodding cordially to Reed. “I will attempt to diagnose the problem with her behaviour, apologies officer. I will make sure a thorough report is made to Cyberlife.” He said promptly as he closed the door. Once it was closed and they were in the darkened viewing portion of the interview room, Evelyn’s face returned to its normal expression, the LED spinning from yellow, back to blue.

“You suffered a software instability.” Connor noted, and Evelyn looked away. “It was a momentary bug, I had my internal processors fix it…it won’t happen again.”

Connor was silent for a few moments, regarding the prototype in front of him. “Perhaps it would be best for me to probe your memory.”

Something about that idea made Evelyn…uncomfortable. She didn’t want to share any of her memories or feelings, lest she be deemed a deviant as well.

“I would rather you don’t, actually…” she said softly, eyes turning to watch Hank and the android in questioning.

“Fascinating.”

Connor turned to watch as well, filing away her reaction for a later investigation.

“What is?”

Evelyn paced back and forth, scanning the android. “He’s displaying all the physical tics of someone who’s experienced post-traumatic. You can see it, there.” She gestured as the android flinched “There. When lieutenant Anderson looked like he was going to hit the android, it flinched. It looks…scared. Internal temperature has risen, and its processors are going incredibly fast.” She noted. “lieutenant Anderson scares it. He won’t tell you guys anything.”

Connor didn’t reply, watching between the interview finishing up, and the way Evelyn had turned on a dime it had seemed.

He was finally starting to see what she had been made for.

“Do you think you could talk to it?”

“I could try. It certainly wouldn’t hurt.” She said, hands crossing in front of her as Hank walked back in.

“Get anything useful from that, Evelyn?” he asked gruffly as he sat down. “He’s a stubborn bastard, won’t talk.” He paused and looked around. “Where did Reed go?”

Evelyn looked away, pretending to scan the android again. Connor spoke up. “He started an altercation with the Evelyn unit, lieutenant. He was stopping her from entering the room and grabbed her.”

Hank rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“Lieutenant” Evelyn spoke up “may I speak to the deviant?”

Hank waved a hand. “Go for gold, kiddo. I don’t think you’ll get far.”

…

When Evelyn had left Hank turned to Connor.

“What happened with Reed?”

“…Evelyn displayed…signs of irritation when officer Reed pinched her cheek. She claims that it was a bug that her processor has since fixed.”

Before Hank could say anything, he continued “She did not hurt him. That seemed a very deliberate action.”

…

Evelyn opened the door to the interview room, and the deviant didn’t look up. He seemed in a rough state, thirium staining him.

“Hey there. How are you feeling?” she started softly, taking a seat opposite him. He looked up, confused.

“W-Who…What…?”

“My name is Evelyn. It’s alright. Your safe…no one’s going to hurt you.” She assured him. He seemed to study her for a while.

She waited patiently, a reassuring smile on her face. “What do you want from me?” he stammered out and Evelyn replied softly “I just want to know what happened is all. I want to hear your side of the story.”

It was quiet again and she tilt her head.

“Your owner beat you, from what I hear.”

He refused to look or answer her, and she leaned her head down a little to keep eye contact. “It’s ok…you can trust me…”

She decided to take a gamble.

“I’m like you. I can feel as well.” She added, brushing her hair back to show her LED.

The android watched, bewildered for a moment. “Your lying. They wouldn’t let a deviant work in the police.”

“The police don’t know. I just want to help you, but you have to tell me what happened.”

“I didn’t want him to do it anymore. I…I was scared.”

“I know…I’m sorry. You haven’t been treated right. Did you stab him?”

“Yes…I just wanted him to stop. He did it all the time.” His eyes were open, honest, and Evelyn held her hand out, palm up on the table.

“Would you let me see? If I see I can help. It’ll be just like talking, but the others won’t know.” She said, lowering her voice as if it were a secret.

The android shook his head and started shaking.

She knew she was running out of time before he shut down on her. She stood up and walked to stand beside him.

“Do you trust that I’m telling the truth?”

“Y…Yes.”

She held her hand in front of his face for a moment, letting him know with slow movements she would not hurt him. She then slowly raised it and placed it on the side of his face.

“Then let me help.”

Violent flashes coursed through her processors, filling her optical senses with scene after scene of abuse, and every time she felt it like she had skin. Like she had nerve endings.

The flashes stopped suddenly, and she felt herself being yanked away.

The android she had probed looked up at her with a mix of concern and terror. That same look was on Hanks face, who stood by the door.

“Get her out of here!” he yelled, and Evelyn finally blinked out of her haze enough to realise it was Connor who had broken the connection.

One arm on her shoulder, and another on her wrist and she was led outside and into her office by the oddly silent android.

“What…happened?”

If Evelyn didn’t know any better, she would have thought he was angry.

“It would have been beneficial for all parties if you had of expressed that you had the function of probing an androids’ memories, EV-500.” He seemed to scold. “And even more importantly, that you have such negative effects from doing so.”

“…Connor I…I totally blacked out.” He turned to look at her.

“You were screaming. You took on his programming for a moment. A plug-and play if you will.”

“Connor these androids can feel. Not the way I do. Not simulating the emotions.” She said suddenly, and his LED turned yellow.

“Impossible, it’s not allowed in their programming.”

“And yet it’s happening. I can’t explain why. I can only tell you that this is a real thing, Connor. I felt it. Every time that human hit him, he felt it…he was protecting himself.”

“Like you were with officer Reed.” She looked up at where he stood from where she leaned against her desk. Flustered.

“Connor, I told you that was a momentary bug. It’s fixed now.”

“Give me your arm, Evelyn.” He said sternly, and Evelyn moved away, behind her desk.

“I already said that would not be necessary. There is nothing wrong with my coding!”

“Then you should have nothing to hide. Now give me your arm, I’m going to probe your memories of what happened with Reed and that android.” He insisted, brows furrowed, and arm outstretched.

She pulled her arms closer to her chest, and the commotion caused people to stare from outside the glass door. Connor advanced towards her.

“It feels like a very private thing! I would really rather you didn’t!” she protested, and her flustered actions caused her to move slower than normal, and Connor snatched an arm from her chest, immediately probing her memories.

In soft flashes there were error codes, a flash of overwhelming anger and self-restraint, then he saw the interview, how she had lied to the deviant, how she herself did not see that she was deviant. Connor continued to probe and found memories of past human Evelyn, though he felt himself quickly being blocked from that part, and then a great wash of embarrassment as Evelyn pushed him away.

Her cheeks were tinted with blue as thirium rushed to the area.

Connor straightened his tie.

“Thank you, Evelyn. From probing deviants in the past…and now you…while I cannot say you are a run of the model android…you aren’t quite a deviant. I think I understand now.”

He paused when she didn’t answer.

“Your uh…your thirium pump seems to be malfunctioning.” He noted, and Evelyn raised a brow. He gestured to her face and she looked in the reflection of her monitor.

For a moment the blue was even more brilliant as she cursed under her breath and it slowly began to fade away.

“You can simulate blushing.” Connor noted. “Which…would be explained by the embarrassment.”

“Oh my god Connor please stop.”

“But I don’t understand why you would be embarrassed. Would you care to explain so I can file this in my log?” he asked, eyebrows raised.

Evelyn couldn’t look at him and groaned. “It’s hard to explain. It just feels very…personal. I can understand why the deviants don’t like it. It feels…invasive.” She explained uncomfortably. Connor nodded.

And then it fell awkwardly silent.

“Look, Connor, you mind giving me some space…your still kind of…close?”

He stepped away, LED spinning between blue and yellow.

She was acting strange.

Very strange indeed.


	4. Chapter 4 - Selcouth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, we get a little cute.   
> Connor and Evelyn reconcile their differences and Connor starts to think perhaps it's not all bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear what you guys think!

Chapter 4 – Selcouth

_Selcouth – Noun – When everything feels strange and different._

Evelyn had paced around her office a great many times before turning away, realising what she had done. A part of her was still coming down from the probing and trying to will away the embarrassment and the fact that she needed to made her uneasy and confused. She should have just been able to turn off those emotion receptors and be done with it – there was certainly some kind of bug in her programming she wanted to keep secret.

She noticed people starting to leave the precinct, with the obvious exception of anyone working the night shift or detectives on certain cases that had no time to rest. A part of her envied that as she grabbed her case files and exited her office, passing by Hank who himself was getting ready to leave.

“Where do you think your going?” he asked, and she paused to turn and look at him, though she found she couldn’t meet Connor’s eyes.

“Apologies, lieutenant, in Cyberlife’s endeavour to make me as human as possible I was implemented with programming that simulates a human’s internal clock.”

Hank looked at her incredulously. “You tryin to tell me you need sleep?”

Evelyn nodded. “Not sleep as you know it. I don’t necessarily need it, but once a certain timer goes off in my system, my inner components are designed to begin slowing down and simulate the desire for rest. My system does not sleep, merely shuts down for eight hours unless roused.”

Hank took a couple of moments to process the information. “…So, your leaving?”

“For tonight, unless I am needed, yes. Cyberlife purchased my predecessor’s apartment as it was after her passing, so I will reside there.”

His face was sceptical, and Connor intervened. “Lieutenant Evelyn is telling the truth; a brief scan of her systems shows this coding is implemented. If it concerns you I shall accompany her.”

Evelyn bristled at the idea – she couldn’t even look at him let alone spend a night in the android’s company. Hank didn’t notice her reaction and gestured lazily at them as he grabbed his coat. “Sure. Whatever, keep an eye on her would ya then, Connor?”

“Of course, lieutenant. Goodnight then.”

…

It was a quiet trip back to Evelyn’s apartment, neither of them talking to the other. When Evelyn put her hand against the scanner and opened the door to the apartment on the fourth floor, a wave of…something passed by her.

To a certain extent it felt like walking into a stranger’s home, while at the same time everything was familiar. The smell of off food produce hit her, and she sighed.

“Ah. Of course. Excuse me Connor, I should probably get rid of that.” She muttered, locking the door behind her as she moved towards the kitchen to clear the mess. Connor however, took the opportunity to look around the apartment.

It was small, a studio apartment, when he walked in he noticed she entered the main loft turned living area and turned around a corner into the adjoining kitchen area. He watched her for a moment or two through the glassless window that separated the rooms as she opened the frisge and grabbed a rubbish bag. Connected to the side he found a hallway which he assumed led to a bathroom. There seemed to be no proper bedroom, but a partition to the side of the living area showed a bed when he peeked around it. Overall most people would have considered the apartment to be small, functional and rather cosy. Psychology books and certificates were displayed on the wall, along with what seemed like random pieces of artworks. A bookshelf in the living area next to a worn couch displayed more psychology textbooks, a couple of case files and dotted here and there, a few literature novels.

Pictures of human Evelyn were scattered around as well, some of the faces Connor recognised from the precinct, and one even had an ever-grumpy looking Hank in it. Evelyn returned with a bag of rubbish and turned on a light.

“Would you like some help?” Connor eventually offered, and Evelyn shook her head. “It’s fine. I can handle it. Make yourself…uh…comfortable?” she hesitated, shrugging. Connor watched her taking rubbish out for a couple more moments before moving to the kitchen to help anyway, holding open the bag as she emptied the now useless fridge and pantry.

“Your apartment is nice.”

Evelyn smirked. “Technically it’s not even mine.” She said with a sigh as she threw an expired loaf of bread into the bag. “Even so, it would seem the human Evelyn liked to keep her home rather tidy.”

“Oh yeah. That much I remember at least. Girl was a neat-freak. Said she hated being stereotyped as a ‘messy cop’.” Evelyn chuckled. When she looked back at him and saw his smirk she felt a little of the tension easing. Eventually when all the leftover rubbish was removed, and the apartment aired out, Evelyn took a moment to stretch. And suddenly it all got awkward all over again.

“You don’t sleep either do you, Connor?”

She watched as he shook his head, taking a seat opposite her on the coffee table. A small part of her wanted to tell him off.

“I feel I should apologise, Evelyn.” He began, and the sudden change in attitude caused her to raise a brow and instinctively hold the arm that he ha grabbed earlier closer to her body. Connor noticed and gestured to it.

“I feel I may have overreacted to what happened in the interrogation room. We had no idea if your systems had been compromised, or if you yourself had malfunctioned. I will admit it has been difficult adapting to having an android around that has the capability to simulate emotions.”

Evelyn nodded. “You’ve probably got a lot of questions for me.”

“I do. Now that I know your simulating emotions and you differentiate yourself from the deviants, there are things I need to start considering which require your input.”

She nodded after he had paused. His eyes, when they looked up at her, were curious and a little tense. “When I probed your memories, I felt your embarrassment as if it were mine.”

Evelyn looked away. “Ah. I’m sorry. I was so busy trying to keep you away from human Evelyn’s memories that I…I’m sorry Connor.”

He held up a hand. “No, it’s alright. I just…haven’t been exposed to your kind of coding and it was unusual for me. Because I’ve been designed to help with the deviant case, they made sure I was never allowed to have your kind of coding.”

“It was a system shock.”

“Indeed. And it has made me curious. About where your coding draws the line.” He paused “Evelyn you have to understand how people are going to confuse you with a deviant.”

She looked away, hands in her lap. “I’m sorry. I can’t explain it. You can’t just explain human emotions.” She muttered, looking perturbed. “I know that in reality its just coding making my thirium pump work harder to simulate a heartbeat, or clouding of my optical units to make me look like I’ll cry. Or a bristling of my sensors when Reed pushed me around. I know that’s all it is.”

She shrugged. “But it’s more than that sometimes. Like when I look at the faces that I knew before, and they look so…angry. And sad.” She sighed deeply, a hand moving to brush back her hair again. “I’m sorry Connor. I can’t explain it. I know I’m not deviant, but I’m not exactly a normal android I’m…”

“…Something in between.” Connor finished for her and she nodded. “Our creators wouldn’t have made a model that could be deviant on purpose Connor.” Evelyn continued.

“The deviants are scared of dying.”

Evelyn smiled sadly. “I can’t blame them, and neither should you. Simulated emotion or not, fear can be a very powerful emotion. Just look at the humans. So much is done out of fear.”

The two fell into an almost thoughtful silence. Connor looking down into his lap with his LED spinning from yellow to blue back and forth, he seemed to be weighing up asking her something else and she gently nudged his knee with hers.

“You look like you want to ask me something else.”

“I do.”

He fell silent again and she smirked “this is as quiet as I’ve ever seen you. What’s got your processors scrambling around, hm?”

“Would you be able to show me?” he asked, and Evelyn cocked an eyebrow. “Emotions?”

“You said you couldn’t explain them verbally. I find myself…requiring knowledge on the kind of emotions that you, and deviants, feel in order to file it away.”

“Why didn’t you just probe my memories then?” she asked, a little bitter.

“Because all that proved was embarrassment. If the deviants are feeling nothing but negative human emotions, then this is a serious issue. But if they feel more than that then…”

“I don’t know, Connor” Evelyn interrupted. “It’s a dangerous path.”

She pondered for a couple of moments as she looked at him, he was casual, and she sensed no hidden motivation. He had vouched for her earlier as well… If she could prove to him, even for a moment, that she wasn’t as much of a liability as he thought she was…then…

“Alright. But when I say enough I mean it.” She said, and he hit her with another lopsided smile.

_Charming little thing, aren’t you?_

The thought caught her off guard and she rushed to put walls in place. Averting her eyes for a moment or two.

Connor noticed her change in demeanour and tilt his head. “Evelyn I’m not going to do anything to jeopardise your systems. When you tell me to stop you have to trust that I will. I’ve already established that you’re not in any way a danger to me, the humans, or my assignment. This is an added resource, but it’s not necessary if you feel like you cannot trust me.”

The reassurance caught her off guard again and she smiled. “It’s alright. I’m just still getting my own head around how to navigate these myself. Sometimes things happen, and I’m not used to them. I trust you.”

She nudged his knee again jovially “We’d made a pretty bad working team if I didn’t. Wouldn’t we?” she laughed softly, breaking whatever tension there was remaining.

“Alright, hold out your hand for me.” She said, “and close your eyes.”

He did as she asked, palm facing her, and she smirked at the confused look on his face.

Connor didn’t know what exactly to expect when he felt the soft synthetic skin of her hand glide against his, little sparks of contact being formed as she pressed her hand flush against his. He saw lights and realised them for being flashes of memories from past Evelyn.

The warmth of a cup of coffee in her hand, and the peace it gave her on long nights. The way her skin would shiver when an ex-lover brushed her hair back, and the way her skin tingled when he would affectionately place a hand on her shoulder. A rush of endorphins when she would laugh, playfully jostling a work friend in the shoulder.

The warmth of being bundled up in a blanket on cold nights, listening to the rain as it fell against the window, and the lull of the city four floors below as it helped her drift to sleep. Connor felt the memories shift slightly, and realised he was feeling through her current android body’s emotions. Pride when Connor had recognised what she could do. Relief when he had defended her. There was a great wash of sadness over him as he saw through her eyes, walking aimlessly around the precinct, and seeing the hatred in everyone’s eyes. He felt the fear through her when he had probed her memories.

For a moment, as she was feeding the memories to him, Evelyn felt a response, the first time since she had started – regret. She opened her eyes and saw him looking at her, shocked, and seeming rather remorseful. She dismissed it with a smile. She let her guard down long enough accidentally for Connor to get a glimpse of her looking at him smiling not several minutes ago.

_Charming little thing, aren’t you?_

Connor tilt his head at the emotion, an eyebrow raised in surprise. Evelyn felt a washback of emotions on his side, confusion, panic, shock, and the smallest hint of appreciation.

She laughed slightly, and she felt that appreciation grow.

“You like it when I laugh.” She smirked, and he didn’t blink as he stared at her, then smiled slightly.

“It’s a very nice laugh.” He paused “You like it when I smile.”

She chuckled “It’s a very nice smile.”

Deeming it enough, Evelyn slowly pulled her hand away, severing the link to her program, and pretended not to notice when Connor’s hand made to follow hers.

“My internal clock. I should…rest.” She said gently, a small smile on her face as she stood up and moved away. “I’ll see you in the morning, goodnight Connor.”

He sat still, processing what had just happened, but watched as she moved behind the partition. “Yes…Goodnight.”


End file.
